The medical device industry produces a wide variety of electronic and mechanical devices for treating patient medical conditions such as pacemakers, defibrillators, neurostimulators and therapeutic substance delivery pumps. Medical devices can be surgically implanted or connected externally to the patient receiving treatment. Clinicians use medical devices alone or in combination with therapeutic substance therapies and surgery to treat patient medical conditions. For some medical conditions, medical devices provide the best and sometimes the only therapy to restore an individual to a more healthful condition. One type of medical device is an implantable neurological stimulation system that can be used to treat conditions such as pain, movement disorders, pelvic floor disorders, gastroparesis, and a wide variety of other medical conditions. The neurostimulation system typically includes a neurostimulator that is typically connected to a stimulation lead that has one or more electrodes to deliver electrical stimulation to a specific location in the patient's body.
Current leads that incorporate straight bundled-stranded-wire (“bsw”) wire have the weakness that all axial loading is transmitted, through the wires, to the electrical connections at either end of the device. This type of configuration can not provide kink resistance. One way to make this type of design more kink resistant is to provide a tubular encasing surrounding each wire. Such tubular encasing is optimally made of a material possessing a high tensile strength. Providing this tubular strengthening member may complicate the manufacturing process, however. What is needed is a more kink-resistant design that is both efficiently manufactured and that provides superior conductivity.